Update: It has been confirmed that the Liberian man who died in quarantine, did in fact have Ebola. Cue panic mitigation.
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While the state of Sierra Leone is scrambling to locate the missing woman who is "on the loose" in the capital Freetown with a documented case of Ebola, we can at least close the book on the other developing story we reported yesterday [3]involving a person who collapse in the international airport of Nigeria's megacity, Lagos, and who was being tested for Ebola. The man has died.
From Reuters [4]:
A Liberian man suspected to have Ebola virus has died in quarantine in Lagos, Nigeria, a Nigerian official in Geneva told Reuters on Friday.
The man, who collapsed on arrival at the airport in Nigeria's commercial centre, Lagos, on Thursday, was being kept in isolation by authorities and had not entered the mega-city of 21 million people, he said.
"While he was in quarantine he passed away," the official said. "The Liberian came in and he was quarantined at the airport and not allowed to go to the city. While he was quarantined he passed away. Everyone who has had contact with him has been quarantined," he told Reuters.
If confirmed, the Liberian man would be the first case on record of one of the world's deadliest diseases in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and with 170 million people, its most populous country. However, Ebola is one of a number of viruses that can cause hemorrhagic fever.
It is unclear if he passed away from natural causes, such as being beaten to death to avoid any loose ends, or because the Ebola virus he was carrying was in very late stage.
No matter the open questions, we are confident that there is nothing to worry about and that the risk of anyone else encountering the man (who may or may not have died from Ebola 24 hours later) while at the airport, and certainly flying off to non-African destinations, is below zero. In fact, we are confident that no matter what the story is, it is bullish for risk assets and certainly for global healthcare companies.
